Rosarchiv will test the technology of storing "cold" data on glass disks

2025: Agreement to Test Glass Disk Cold Data Storage Technology

On November 13, 2025, the Federal Archival Agency (Rosarkhiv) and Signaltek JSC announced the signing of an agreement on cooperation in the development of systems for the indefinite storage of "cold" data, including a new domestic technology for optical storage based on silicate glass.

As part of the agreement, Signaltek will provide samples of systems for testing in federal archives subordinate to Rosarchiv in order to collect functional requirements and finalize solutions.

The technology of recording data in glass was developed by scientists of the Russian Chemical University named after D.I. Mendeleev and IOF RAS with financial support from the Fund for Advanced Research (FPI). The industrial partner is Signaltek, which takes on the introduction of scientific developments into production.

Silicate glass provides unlimited storage of highly valuable data without the need for periodic rewriting and without the additional cost of creating special storage conditions.

For comparison: ordinary CD/DVD discs "live" from 5 to 15 years, the shelf life of special archive Blu-ray discs can reach 50 years, provided that all storage rules are observed: temperature, humidity, lack of direct light and mechanical damage.

The data is recorded by the laser in the volume of the glass carrier in an immutable form, which makes it invulnerable to cyber attacks and falsification. Disks are resistant to time, moisture, radiation, as well as extreme temperatures up to 1000 degrees (if the disk is made of quartz glass). The production of systems and media will be fully localized in Russia, including key components - special femtosecond lasers.

The unit cost of glass media is a record 150 rubles per TB, which is 3 times cheaper than magnetic tape and is the most budgetary solution in the world. Their mass production will be deployed in Russia in the next 3-5 years.

According to the deputy head of Rosarchiv Sergei Kostoglod, the technology of guaranteed long-term data storage is undoubtedly important for the state and is a critical and most important science-intensive technology in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 18, 2024 No. 529 "On approval of priority areas of scientific and technological development and the list of the most important science-intensive technologies."

Chief Executive Officer of Signaltek Alexey Alyasev assessed the needs of the Russian market for cold storage in the amount of more than 100 petabytes annually. This figure does not take into account the current volume of cold storage, which can also be transferred to glass carriers to improve reliability.

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Фото: Signaltek

At the stand of Signalteka JSC, Alyasev handed over to the deputy head of the Federal Archival Agency Sergei Kostoglod a quartz disk of eternal data storage, on which a digitized newsreel of the formation of microelectronics in the USSR with a total volume of 40 GB was recorded, prepared by the Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents subordinate to Rosarchiv.

The partnership of Rosarkhiv and Signaltek opens the way to the practical use of technology for digitally preserving historical documents from the funds of federal archives, ensuring their eternal storage and thereby accessibility for future generations.

In the near future, it is planned to create robotic archive complexes with a capacity of 1 PB to ensure the possibility of equipping federal archives with them.

Alyasev also noted the export potential and the need for an early withdrawal of technology to foreign markets, especially to the market of friendly China, where similar projects are unfolding in full swing, but still lagging behind the Russian one in terms of technological readiness.